Renewable energy, and in particular energy generated by solar photovoltaic panels or wind/water turbines, can be particularly suitable for developing countries since in such countries transmission and distribution of energy generated from fossil fuels can be difficult and expensive.
Advances in technology and reduction in manufacturing costs make solar energy an attractive alternative to energy generated from fossil fuels. Over the 2008-2011 period, the price of photovoltaic modules per MW has fallen by over 60%.
Approximately 1.5 billion people around the world do not have access to grid electricity (off-grid). An additional 1 billion are connected to unreliable grids. Even though these people are typically poor, they pay far more for lighting than people in western countries because they use inefficient energy sources (kerosene) which are far costlier than grid electricity or environmentally-produced energy.
Renewable energy projects in many developing countries have demonstrated that renewable energy can directly contribute to economic development and poverty alleviation by providing the energy needed for creating businesses and employment as well as providing energy for cooking, space heating and cooling, lighting etc. In addition, renewable energy can also contribute to education, by providing electricity to schools as well as home based education.
Although the case for renewable energy in developing countries is compelling, there remains a problem of how to finance deployment of renewable energy systems such as photovoltaic panels in areas where the population cannot afford to purchase such systems or finance the costs typically associated with deployment of such systems, and especially when such systems are prone to theft, as they are easily detached.
Thus, it would be highly advantageous to have a system which can provide pay-per-use renewable energy without the financial burden typically associated with deployment of such systems from the consumer side, while providing the necessary security for the operator so that system components and/or electricity are not stolen.